Leaping Between the Tracks (April 20, 1958)
by JonoGwood
Summary: Sam leaps into Sir Topham Hatt (the Fat Controller) to save the fate of the railway and to prevent his murder. It all seems easy in theory, but this Leap will be far from easy...


_Author's Note: I do not own Quantum Leap or Thomas the Tank Engine. All rights reserved to Universal Studios/Belisarius Productions and HIT Entertainment respectively._

"Theorising that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Doctor Sam Beckett led an elite group of scientists into the desert to develop a top secret project, known as QUANTUM LEAP. Pressured to prove his theories or lose funding, Doctor Beckett, prematurely stepped into the Project Accelerator and vanished. He awoke to find himself in the past, suffering from partial amnesia and facing a mirror image that was not his own. Fortunately, contact with his own time was made through brainwave transmissions, with Al, the Project Observer, who appeared in the form of a hologram that only Doctor Beckett could see and hear. Trapped in the past, Doctor Beckett finds himself leaping from life to life, putting things right, that once went wrong and hoping each time, that his next leap will be the leap home."

 **Leaping Between the Tracks**

 **April 20th, 1958**

The brilliant blue light engulfed Dr. Sam Beckett once again, sparks of electricity making its way around his body. He closed his eyes to shield them from the unrelenting brightness. He heard the electricity fizzle out, and he cautiously opened his eyes to ascertain his new surroundings.

Sam found himself sitting behind a desk in what appeared to be an ornate office. An antique clock sat near the door on the right. Paintings of trains were hung around the room, all of which had… faces? Sam had never seen locomotives with faces before in his life. This leap was obviously going to be a new learning experience.

Sam's eyes next focused in front of him to find a group of men looking at him expectantly. They were all dressed in blue pants, a white shirt with a black tie, blue jackets and blue caps. Standing in front of the men was a tall, lean man in a suit, who had raised his eyebrow at him. He saw he was eyeing something in Sam's hand. He glanced down and saw he was holding a pen.

'Well, Sir, are you going to sign the paper?'

He looked down. It was a contract to sell all the railways of something called the Island of Sodor to a large corporation.

'Oh, boy,' Sam muttered.

It was at this moment his friend and holographic assistant Al opened the Imaging Chamber door. 'Sam!' he shouted. 'Don't sign the contract! Ziggy says there's a 96.4% chance that RailCorp is going to destroy the Island of Sodor's railways for its own commercial gain!'

Sam put down the pen carefully and smiled at the assembly gathered in the office. 'I'm sorry, but, uh, I can't sign this today. I've got to think about it first.'

The man in the suit became indignant. 'We've had three weeks of negotiations, Sir Topham. Surely you, as the Head of the Railway, would know this!'

Sam gulped. _I run the place_.

'I know, but, um, I'd like to still gather my thoughts on this matter.'

'Very well,' the man sighed. 'You have one week, Topham.' He stormed out the office door.

Sam looked at the others near the desk. 'Uh, dismissed,' he said. They promptly left without questioning this distinctly military language.

Once he was certain he was alone, Sam got up out of the chair and paced the room. 'What's going on, Al?'

His friend fished a handlink from his pocket, and started punching buttons. 'Okay, let's see here. It's April 20th, 1958. Your name is Sir Topham Hatt, you're 56 years old, and you're the head of the railway of the Island of Sodor, which is close to England. You oversee the running of the railway and the engines, to make sure they're being really useful.'

Sam found a mirror close to his desk and examined himself. His host was rotund in appearance, wearing a black suit grey pants, a cream-coloured coat and a white shirt with a black tie.

'So what am I here to do?' he asked.

Al punched more buttons, while slapping the handlink as it squealed. 'Well, uh, in the original history, you, I mean Sir Topham Hatt, realised you were getting older. In consultation with your son Stephen, you signed the contract allowing RailCorp to take over the railway.' Al looked forlorn. 'It all went downhill, Sam.'

'Why?'

'Well, RailCorp decided to get rid of all the existing engines, like Thomas, Percy, Gordon, Henry, James, Edward and the like. They… oh no, Sam, they turn them into scrap!' Al said this with a pained expression on his face.

'So now I've delayed signing the contract,' Sam pondered, 'have I changed history?'

'Close, Sam, but… three days from now, the body of Sir Topham Hatt was found in the Sodor River with a gunshot wound to the chest.'


End file.
